In the capsized coneist thread....what's a "strainer"??? Rick (.....rookie from Virginia) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
>In the capsized coneist thread....what's a "strainer"??? >Rick (.....rookie from Virginia) >*************************************************************************** A strainer is an obstruction in a stream that lets water through, but not you. Say, something like a fallen tree with its branches in the water or a drifted log pinned between rocks. Even a moderate current can hold you against it, and drowning is a real possibility. Best to paddle around them i.e. avoid them like the plague. Joe P. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Joe Pylka wrote: > > >In the capsized coneist thread....what's a "strainer"??? > >Rick (.....rookie from Virginia) > >*************************************************************************** > A strainer is an obstruction in a stream that lets water through, > but not you. Say, something like a fallen tree with its branches in the > water or a drifted log pinned between rocks. > Even a moderate current can hold you against it, and drowning is a > real possibility. Best to paddle around them i.e. avoid them like the > plague. > > Joe P. The definition can also apply to piers in a harbor or a bay or a large river like the Hudson. A current can pin you pretty hopelessly to a pier. If you don't push off correctly, i.e. tilting your cockpit into the direction of the pier, and instead tilt the cockpit toward the current, the current will catch your deck and flip you like a pancake. It has happened to me. ralph -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Mon, Oct 09, 2000 at 10:05:37AM -0400, Rick Sylvia wrote: > In the capsized coneist thread....what's a "strainer"??? It's a collection of branches/brush/trees/debris that has accumulated in a river. They're usually found along the outside of bends in the stream (because that's where the current deposits them). They're called strainers because they allow water to pass through but not solid objects...like you or your boat. Therefore they present a nasty hazard to paddlers, because it can be hard to escape them against the full force of the current. If you're in your boat, the easiest way to avoid a strainer is to paddle to the inside of the turn -- presuming that it's on the outside. But wherever it is, you *do not* want to be upstream of it. If you can't avoid it, then lean into it (because it you lean upstream, you will instantly flip and be pinned against it), and if you can climb out of your boat, then do so -- get up on top of it, even if that means watching your boat disappear under you. If you're swimming, this is one of those places where the "float on your back, feet downstream rule" gets tossed. Turn over, and swim sideways in the current HARD in order to try to avoid it. You're probably better off swimming an entire rapid (assuming you have a properly-fitting PFD) than messing with a strainer. If contact with a strainer is unavoidable, then turn over, face it, swim toward it aggressively (because you need to be moving faster than the current) and CLIMB for all you're worth. As soon as your hands make contact you need to be pulling yourself up, before your lower body gets swept under the strainer and pinned. If you are a rescuer standing by with a throwbag, it's always good to keep in your mind where these hazards are. Questions like "if I hit X with a throwbag at this point in the rapid, and start pulling them in, will I be trying to pull them directly upstream of a strainer?" need to be answered *before* you make the throw. ---Rsk *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Rich Kulawiec wrote: --snip of excellent advice-- > If contact with a strainer is unavoidable, then turn over, face it, > swim toward it aggressively (because you need to be moving faster than > the current) and CLIMB for all you're worth. As soon as your hands make > contact you need to be pulling yourself up, before your lower body gets > swept under the strainer and pinned. --snip-- Most folks who attempt it don't succeed the first few times due to bad timing (they keep their legs in the current a bit too long when they begin their vault). Since in reality it is a one shot deal with severe consequences, practise is imperative. Cheers, Richard Culpeper *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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